April 6, 2024 - Boys and Girls, Men and Women, in the Boats

 

This year's Husky Open featured a pair of collegiate races and 31 races involving local club and high school teams.  The Men's Masters 8 boat 55+ was won by the Ancient Mariners with a US Rowing Age handicap listed as 66 years. The Men's Masters quad, 40+ had an age handicap of 71! 

The 2000 meter course starts in Lake Washington and ends at the west end of the Montlake Cut.  Rowers pass by the ASUW Shell House in the shadows of Husky Stadium as they enter the Cut.  Originally built as a Navy seaplane hangar in 1918, it served as the UW shell house from 1920 to 1949.  

March 19, 2024 - Social Media and Sakura

 

The number of visitors to the cherry blossoms in the quad at the University of Washington has exploded.  Instagram started in October of 2010 and by 2018 had 1 billion users.  

The photo above was taken on a weekend of Spring Quarter of 1989.     

The photo below was taken this year during UW's Spring Break. On a Tuesday. At midday.  

January 6, 2024 - Peaceful Purple

 

During the football season, Husky Stadium glows in purple in the nights before a game.  On this night the purple does all of the talking in the vacant stadium.  The team was in Texas for the College Football Playoff Championship Game held at NRG Stadium in Houston.  The #2 ranked hometown Huskies would lose 13 - 34 to the #1 ranked University of Michigan Wolverines to finish 14-1 on the season.

The first game at Husky Stadium was November 27, 1920; a 7 - 28 loss to Dartmouth.  At that time the capacity was 30,000 in a bowl-shaped configuration with an open end providing a view to Lake Washington.  In the 103 years since, the stadium has grown through major renovations in 1936, 1950, 1968, 1987 and 2013.  The 1950 renovation added the first upper deck and cantilevered metal roof.  The 1987 renovation added a second cantilevered metal roof, upper deck and 13,000 seats on the north side. The 2013 renovation saw the removal of the track, the lowering of the field by four feet the construction of new south stands, box suites, athletic offices, facilities and other amenities.  The new layout brought fans closer to the field and dropped the seating capacity from 72,500 to 70,138.

 

April 22, 2023 - When a Dual is a Duel

 

It was a fantastic morning for a pair of traditional rowing powers to square off on Lake Washington's Montlake Cut.  The rowing teams of the University of Washington and the University of California, Berkeley have the oldest rowing rivalry in the Western US.  The UW-Cal Dual was first contested by the men's teams in 1903.  Washington leads the series 76-33-1. The women's teams first competed in 1977.  

'Dual' is short for 'Dual Meet'.  If you ask anyone in either program what 'Dual' is they'll let you know it is simply UW vs Cal.  

For the 111th UW-Cal Dual, the Cal Men's Varsity 8 came in ranked #1, Washington #3. The top ranked team crossed the finish line just two seats ahead of Washington.  The Washington Women's Varsity 8 (above) were ranked #6 with the Cal Women's Varsity 8 ranked #7.  They held off Cal, winning by a boat length.

In the closest race of the morning was the Women's Second Varsity, with Cal crossing the finish line just six tenths of a second ahead of the Washington boat. Initially it was ruled a 'dead heat' as the Washington boat hit two geese on the course.  At the conclusion of the regatta the coaches amicably agreed to award Cal the race by the original margin.